We continue once again with our look at the comments made by one of our forum members who believes that when a Christian dies he (apart from his body) does not sleep in death to await the resurrection, but goes immediately to be with the Lord. As proof of his position he supplied the following texts which he believes supports this theory:

“To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”(Phil 1:21-23)

Paul understood that to die was to be with Christ. Not to slumber until the final judgement.

He says the same thing in 2 Cor 5:6–9, “We are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”

So, dying in the body means going to be at home with the Lord.

Let us take a look at the first text he mentioned.

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell, for I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Phil 1:21-23 NKJV)

“There are few passages of Scripture more frequently quoted, or, rather, misquoted and misapplied, than this. It is the favorite text for funeral discourses, and is inscribed upon innumerable tombstones, and repeated by religious teachers as the devout wish of Paul’s heart, and the appropriate sentiment of every Christian heart, in view of death. These are the words that are attributed to the apostle Paul; and when taken in the sense in which they were evidently uttered they are every way creditable to his unselfish heart, and his supreme devotion to the service of Christ. But it may well be questioned whether the sentiment that has been put into them, in our version, and the sense in which they are generally taken, ever entered his mind, much less ever found any expression in any of his writings.

He is supposed (by many) to be considering the question, Whether it would be better for himself, to continue his self-denying labors for Christ till he should be called to his reward in heaven, or to die now, and go at once to glory; and though perplexed in view of these two alternatives, he feels that it would be real gain to himself and far better, to die now and go immediately to his reward in heaven, and he actually most earnestly desired this.

It is true, our English version seems to sustain this view, and, no doubt, the translators had this thought in their own minds, and so they put it into the rendering of this passage.

But we are persuaded that a more careful examination of the text in the original, and of the context, will show that the “gain” he is here speaking of is not gain to himself, but to the cause of Christ, and the “departure” he is represented as desiring so earnestly is not HIS own departure from life, but the departure, or, rather, THE RETURN (for this is what the word really signifies) OF CHRIST; for this rendering is quite as close to the original Greek, and in accord with the grammar of the language, and it harmonizes infinitely better with what he has just been saying, and with the character of the man, and, indeed, with the letter and spirit of all his teachings, and with the teaching of the Scriptures generally.

This most affectionate and tender epistle to the Philippians was written while he was a prisoner at Rome. His life was in jeopardy, depending on the caprice of the Emperor. He knew not what would be the issue. But, instead of repining and complaining of his hard lot, he even exults and rejoices that his bonds have been the occasion of making Christ more widely known throughout the palace, and elsewhere, and that the disciples of Christ, by his example, had been confirmed in their faith, and emboldened “to speak the word without fear.”

Again: He rejoices that even the contentions which had sprung up among them had contributed to the spread of the knowledge of the gospel, and though his enemies had desired “to add affliction to his bonds” by their manner of preaching Christ (Verse 15, 16), he still rejoiced, and would rejoice that Christ was preached. Indeed, he was so devoted to this one object of making Christ known to others that he had utterly lost sight of every other interest. He had entirely gone out of himself, and had centered all his thoughts, hopes, desires and efforts in Christ. He was determined to know nothing else, nor did he, but Christ and him crucified.

He was full of joy in the assurance that whatever might be his own lot, Christ would be honored, and in this he rejoiced. Hence he says, in the verse immediately preceding the passage under consideration, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death.”

Continued with next post.